一孔录The video for this chapter is still in production. For now this page gives the original text, the facsimile page, a working translation and the commentary; the full reading follows when the video is out.
司馬牛問仁。子曰：仁者其言也訒。曰：其言也訒，斯謂之仁已乎？子曰：為之難，言之得無訒乎？Sima Niu asked about humaneness. The Master said: The humane are slow to speak. He said: Slow to speak — is that all it takes to be called humane? The Master said: When doing is hard, can one help being slow to speak?
What this chapter says
一孔按：司马牛多言而躁，孔子告诉他仁者其言也讱。只给一个字，正因为这一个字是他的病处：说出来难，做到更难。常有人问：司马牛问仁，孔子只说“仁者其言也讱”，为什么他只得到这一句？上面是一孔录的回答。
Yikonglu's reading of this chapter is in Chinese for now; the English version comes with the video.
白Plain Chinese
司马牛问仁，孔子说，仁者说话谨慎、不轻易出口；司马牛问，只是说话谨慎就算仁了吗，孔子说，做起来不容易，说的时候能不谨慎吗？
Draft plain-Chinese rendering following Zhu Xi; it will be checked when the chapter is covered.
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Connections
- Same question
Asking about humaneness: 8 times in the book. Different people asked, and got different answers:
- 6.20 Fan Chi: The humane put the hard work first and the reward after.
- 12.1 Yan Yuan: To overcome the self and return to ritual is humaneness.
- 12.2 Zhonggong: What you do not want for yourself, do not impose on others.
- 12.3 Sima Niu: The humane are slow to speak.
- 12.22 Fan Chi: Love people.
- 13.19 Fan Chi: Be respectful at home, reverent in your duties, and loyal to others.
- 15.9 Zigong: Serve the worthiest of its high officers; befriend the most humane of its scholars.
- 17.6 Zizhang: Respectfulness, generosity, trustworthiness, diligence, kindness.
- People
Relationship map of the whole book · The Analects, AI-reconstructed edition (PDF)
Close reading and checking
For readers who want to go deeper or check our work: key words in the commentary, what other commentators say, textual variants, the commentaries in their own words with facsimile pages, pronunciation and corrections. Tap a heading to open it.
常The common reading
司马牛问仁，孔子只说“仁者其言也讱”，为什么他只得到这一句？
注Key words in the commentary
司马牛，孔子弟子，名犁，向魋之弟。
核Zhu Xi's commentary, line by line
Zhu Xi's own words on each line of this chapter, each checked against the base-edition page. Other commentators are added when the chapter is covered. About this edition
| Line | Quoted text | Page |
|---|---|---|
| 司马牛问仁。 | “司马牛，孔子弟子，名犁，向魋之弟。” | page 158—159 |
| 司马牛问仁。 | “讱，忍也，难也。仁者心存而不放，故其言若有所忍而不易发，盖其德之一端也。夫子以牛多言而躁，故告之以此，使其于此而谨之，则所以为仁之方，不外是矣。” | page 158—159 |
| 司马牛问仁。 | “牛意仁道至大，不但如夫子之所言，故夫子又告之以此。盖心常存，故事不苟；事不苟，故其言自有不得而易者，非强闭之而不出也。” | page 159 |
| 司马牛问仁。 | “读者其致思焉。” | page 159 |
| 司马牛问仁。 | “牛之为人如此，若不告之以其病之所切，而泛以为仁之大概语之，则以彼之躁，必不能深思以去其病，而终无自以入德矣。故其告之如此。盖圣人之言，虽有高下大小之不同，然其切于学者之身，而皆为入德之要，则又初不异也。读者其致思焉。” | page 159 |
| 子曰：为之难，言 | “虽为司马牛多言故及此，然圣人之言，亦止此为是。” | page 159 |
家Other commentaries
Our base text is Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries (above). Here are other commentaries side by side: for old commentaries, the first line of the sub-commentary with a link to the woodblock scan; for modern editions, one short quoted translation for comparison. The “compared with Zhu Xi” notes are written by Yikonglu, not quoted.
皇侃《论语义疏》Liang dynasty · 1750 Japanese woodblock edition · juan 六
“云司馬牛問仁者，司馬牛是桓魋弟也。”……
Compared with Zhu Xi
| Commentary | Point | Relation | Confidence | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 杨伯峻《论语译注》 | same | settled | 讱为言难出而谨，针对司马牛多言躁；牛名杨据史记耕，朱名犁并定向魋弟，人物考定不同。 | |
| 钱穆《论语新解》 | same | fairly sure | 同以讱为言难出、谨而不轻发，仁之实行难故言不可易；钱兼讨论牛忧兄乱的慎言背景，朱主以其多言躁而矫偏。 |
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